Prepare for new Development Branch builds

Hello Windows Insiders!

We wanted to send out a quick note reminding Windows Insiders to check their ring settings. Now that the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Build 14393) has been released to our customers, it has replaced the Windows 10 November Update (Build 10586) in the Current Branch. We are now getting ready to start releasing new builds from our Development Branch to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring again. Just like we did after the release of the Windows 10 November Update – we will start off by releasing PC builds from our Development Branch first and then start releasing Mobile builds a few weeks after.

With the new builds we release from our Development Branch, you won’t see any big noticeable changes or new features just yet. Just like just like we did after the release of the November Update, we are focusing on making some structural improvements to OneCore. If you recall – OneCore is the shared core of Windows across PC, tablet, phone, IoT, Hololens and Xbox. It is essentially the heart of Windows. We’re doing some code refactoring and other engineering work to make sure OneCore is optimally structured for teams to start checking in new features and improvements in a few months. As a result, these builds may include more bugs and other issues that could be slightly more painful for some people to live with. If this makes you uncomfortable, you can change your ring by going to Settings > Update & security > Windows Insider Program and moving to the Slow or Release Preview rings for more stable builds.

Additionally, the team remains focused on rolling out the Windows 10 Anniversary Update to our customers and looking at the feedback we have received from the PCs that have already received the update. We plan to roll-out improvements to the Windows 10 Anniversary Update based on this feedback through Cumulative Updates. Windows Insiders in the Release Preview ring will also help us validate these Cumulative Updates. Going forward, the Release Preview ring will no longer receive updates for Build 10586 and will only receive Cumulative Updates for Build 14393 in addition to driver updates and app updates. Please see this post on how this change impacts Windows Insiders with unsupported devices.